The Wizard of the Floating Mountain
by Yunalia
Summary: A special day goes bad with a kidnapping.Margo is given to a man she finds out is the wizard of the floating mountain and meets the witch that roams the town and the areas around in one day.Under a curse,can Margo help the wizard and break her curse that was given to her by the witch?
1. Chapter 1 To which I was Kidnapped

The Wizard of the Floating Mountain

Ch.1 To Which I was Kidnapped

Minecraft is a world that is very vast and expansive. It has all sorts of walks of life that are discovered everyday by other people. It's a world made of blocks, literally. Even the people and animals are made of blocks. In a small town that was modular with a little bit of medieval look, people congregated.

The town was bustling with high spirits and happiness. Today marked a special day for all Minecraftians of the town. Today they celebrated their independence called Peace Dove Day. The town held an all-day event, showing off its army and strength in a parade through the town, bakeries made pies and all sorts of goodies for all. Men flirted with women and danced out in the Central Square. It was a fun filled and joyous day. Sadly, it was also too noisy for some businesses to work, like the armor shop.

The females that worked there made armor for female buyers. They made armor types for all sizes and in all colors. Even adding ruffles or something else to the armor that females liked. The girl's downstairs on the lower floor of the two story shop were all in a bustle about the celebration. So much excitement was going on and they couldn't focus.

"Come on, girls! Can't we go into town just for a bit, madam?" begged Claudia, an orange haired woman with curls that all men fawned over when she was working.

"Have you finished our orders that we were to fill?" madam asked in return as she walked about downstairs. Obviously inspecting the armor pieces they had done yesterday and today.

"Yes, madam," chorused the girls together.

The madam strutted about with a straight face, turning her back to them. "Well…" She turned back around with a smile and a nod. "Let's go then!"

The girls squealed hopping up and down in excitement and raced up the stairs to the upstairs. "Hey, did you hear Margo?" panted Lynette at the doorway, her hat askew on her head. "We can go to the Dove Day!"

"I know," I mumbled dusting the armor of the extra redstone dust that I was embedding into the armor to make it shine. "You made me put too much dust from all of ya'lls squeals."

Lynette went over to me and hooked a hand through the armor arm hole and was going to pull it from my grasp when I grasped it and glared. "I need to finish this. I can't leave until it's done."

Lynette sighed, backing off, knowing not to anger me more than she already had. "Are you going to go to Dove Day at all or stay cooped up? Your sister asked about you. She wants to talk to you." I watched Lynette move away looking at her reflection in a mirror. Her fingers poked odd strands of hair back into her hat made of straw and encircled with red ribbing that came half way down to the back of her head. "No doubt it's about your father."

I placed the halfway done armor on the chest display, ignoring the remark about my flightful father. He did what he pleased, chased after his dreams, and never had the time to take care of his kids. Mother took care of us until she died when I was fifteen and my sister was six. I hated being the eldest, everything fell on my shoulders. Mothers shop soon fell into my hands from her will and I've been running it ever since.

I looked to the left of the desk at a few stacks of letters that I had been saving, some from my father and some from other family members apparently 'checking up' on me. It didn't matter to me though, they were all after the income the shop made. My sister, Colette, was now sixteen and I twenty-five. "I'm sure she doesn't want to talk about dad or do you know the reasons?"

Lynette fiddled with some shears avoiding my gaze. "No. Just that she wants to talk to you."

I looked at the armor and continued on my work. "If that's all then I'll meet with her after I'm done."

Lynette put down the shears and placed a piece of paper on my work desk. "That's the bakery's new address. They moved a few blocks down into the Central Square, remember?"

I nodded fiddling through my organization boxes to find the right additions that the armor needed. "You may go now."

"Look, it's the Aerial Mountain!" cried one of the women from the next room.

The other girls flocked to the triple high glass windows to peer out at the distant scenery. I too craned my neck over the window sill to see a mid-sized mountain drifting across the sky. The brilliant white clouds were beginning to hide it again.

"What the heck? It's going into hiding!" whined one of the women.

"It's hiding from the security," said a woman that sounded like a know-it-all. "You know how the King has been wanting to capture that island for so long."

I watched a group of flying security men soared diagonally past the windows into the sky, surveying the town before splitting apart. "I hardly think he wants the mountain for just anything, Tamara." I said from my work room. "Besides, it's just a floating island. What's so special about that?"

"Do you not know the rumors?!" the girls all chorused together at me.

I looked at them with a raised brow. "Rumors? Of the witch?"

"No, not a witch!" Lynette sighed propping herself up on her elbows on my work desk. "The wizard!"

Now that I thought about it there had been some people talking about some wizard that was working for the witch. "Oh. That. What about him?"

"The witch that roams around here had a falling out with the wizard apparently. She wants to kill him," Lynette said picking up the shears and slashing the air with them dramatically before looking to the other girls and giggling. "Does Margo not read the news?"

"Apparently not," giggled Nita who had dyed black hair and a nice straw hat that she decorated herself. Flowers and ribbon glued at the front and a beautiful bow on the back. "We're going to the Dove Day, Margo. Come along later."

The madam looked at me with a gentle smile. "Margo, you're working too hard. Come have some fun with us, won't you?"

I smiled back. "Later, madam. I want to finish this order. I'm almost done."

The madam nodded before turning and ushering the girls out. "Let's go and have fun! Head out the door!"

The girls all flocked down the steps in squeals and giggling. The sounds echoing throughout the shop before the door shut and all was quiet. I sighed liking the peace and quiet that had come finally and began to work on the armor once more. More guards flew up past my shop windows to fly around the town, patrolling the grounds below on their small flying crafts that were steam powered. As time went by, our town slowly began to take in the steam powered mechanics that the Royal Palace would build.

The army had taking to them instantly and used them. A train passed by a row of houses, smoke billowing up into the sky and turning it charcoal black. It was annoying whenever the train went past. My view of the distant scenery would be blocked by the smoke half the time. _I always wonder why the hell they had to put a damn train there?_

I steadily worked on the armor for thirty more minutes and finished up the order at last. I stood up patting my apron off of the excess additions that I had used before taking it off and placing it on my desk. I took up my beige hat and placed it on my head, and checked my pig tails in the mirror. My mother always liked putting my hair in pig tails. She said it made me adorable.

I disagreed and have always but I till put them into pigtails for her. I grabbed up the paper, pocketing it and headed out the door, locking it behind me. I walked off down the Main Square that the armor shop was located at and struck down a street that wasn't overly populated with people. I didn't like tons of people or crowding. I took the backstreets, passing the barracks and scurrying off when I noticed a guard standing there.

Some men that were guards made me have an odd feeling of distrust. I checked the paper again of the address and went on my way through the back streets, checking the other addresses to see if I was heading in the same direction. I arrived at the Central Square where lavish parties were being held and both women and men were dancing to playing music. All the town bakeries and shops were open for business and they were indeed doing a good bit of business. A man on fence posts strapped to his feet stalked about dressed as a witch and cosplayed the witch that was said to lurk around these parts.

No one knew what she looked like because her features would change constantly. I pushed open the doors of the bakery to find tons of officers mobbing the front counter, all fawning over my sister and the other ladies behind there. All crying out for their attention in some way or another. I made my way around tables and people to stand at the very far end of the front counter. One of the other waitresses noticed me and tugged on Colette's apron. Colette looked to me with surprise and ran to me, taking my hands with hers. "I'm so glad you came! I didn't think you would!"

I looked to my older sister who's hair was black as night and eyes blue. She had taken the features of our father when I had gotten moms looks but dad's eyes as well. "Of course. Why wouldn't I come? You wanted to talk right?"

Colette hauled me over the front counter and sprinted up some stairs to the upper story of the bakery. The men below whined and complained at her leaving but she just snorted and went to the end of the hall where we entered her office and shut the door. I sighed sitting down in a chair while she plopped down in front of me in her own chair. "So, I heard from dad and he's coming back!"

I looked to her without any expression. "Is he truly returning or is this just another lie? You know those other times…"

Colette puffed out her cheeks at me. "Come on, Margo! You know how dad is but I still have hope! Why can't you?!"

I straightened in my chair at her attitude. "Because dad was never there when we were born and he was never there when we had a birthday and he was never there for mom's burial! Why in hell would I believe him now?!"

Colette softened her look and dropped her head to the floor. "True. But still I'm going to believe as long as I can. He'll come back home."

"What else did you want to talk about?" I asked changing the subject. "Lynette doesn't know that she sucks at lying to me."

Colette chuckled a little. "You need to get a husband, Margo. Hell, I'm already engaged."

I blinked and turned to her in slight surprise. "What? When?!"

She stared at me in surprise then. "Did the message not reach you last month?"

"No!" I said appalled. "No one told me anything!"

Colette grasped my hands in forgiveness. "Oh lord, those damn airheaded girls! I met a man a year ago! You remember."

I sat there thinking back and it clicked. "Oh yeah, that officer that now works in the bakery downstairs."

Colette nodded holding up her ring. "Isn't it pretty?"

I took her hand delicately and nodded. "It really is. When is the wedding?"

"In five months!" she squealed excitedly with a huge smile.

I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I smiled hugging her. "Congratulations, Col! I really am happy for you!"

To be honest I really wasn't that excited. I felt like she needed to wait a bit more before getting married but she was the exact same as father. She was stubborn and would jump at whatever she thought up. Colette looked at me seriously then. "What I'm really wanting to talk about is you, Margo."

"What?" I asked leaning away.

"You're twenty-five years old and are still in the armory shop! When are you going to leave and seek out your life? I got mine. I found it here. Yours isn't at the armory shop, Margo."

I looked to my sister and smiled stroking her left cheek. "Col, I'll be fine. I like it there and I like making armor. It's all that I live for and I'll find a man and have a life. Don't worry."

Yet Colette still looked to me unsure. "Margo, you say that to me every time! You haven't changed at all and you're still in the same place as you were three years ago!"

"I'm fine," I said pleadingly, wanting her to stop looking at me like she would break. "Really, I don't mind. It was moms after all. I'll take care of the shop."

Colette sighed as her shoulders fell. "You're not seeing my point, Margo."

The office door opened and a male stepped in with a flour covered apron. "Colette the breads and pastries are done."

Colette looked to him with a slight blush. "Ok. I'll be there in a bit. I'm talking to Margo."

The man looked to me and smiled. "I'm her fiancé. It's nice to meet you, Margo."

I nodded shyly to him. "Hi."

He left us alone, shutting the door and walking off. I stood and fixed my hat. "I'll be going. You need to get back to work."

Colette grasped my hand tightly. "Please think about what I'm telling you, Margo?"

I smiled patting her head. "Good bye, Colette."

I turned and hurried out of the building, Margo pleading after me to listen to her any at all. As I reached outside I stopped and sighed. My sister really did worry too much at times. I headed off through the streets looking at all of the sights and watching what was going on. At least I could enjoy the Dove Day before heading back immediately.

I watched people walking on fence posts double and triple stacked. Stalking about passing out flyers and chasing kids. I watched the soldiers take women up on their steam powered planes, flying about the air and overlooking the town. I wished I was pretty as the other girls that attracted men but sadly I wasn't. I walked on and suddenly heard a shout from above.

Looking up I saw a bucket of ink dropping upon me. I was soaked suddenly, no time to dodge. I opened my eyes to find myself covered in black ink, dripping on the sidewalk under a business sign. I stood there in complete shock at my dress that was no ruined by the black ink. The men scrambled down from the top floor. I felt a presence next to me suddenly wiping my face with a cloth.

"We're so sorry! The bucket just slipped from my partner's grasp! Your clothes are ruined!"

I opened my eyes again to see two men standing there looking apologetic. One man with a painters overalls on, a blue hat, and brown eyes while the other had a t-shirt, blue jeans, ruffled blonde hair, and blue eyes. I looked down at myself once again blinking at all the ink that had come from one bucket.

"Let's get you inside and take care of those clothes," offered the blonde haired man who took hold of my arm. "My sister has a change of clothes upstairs. This is her business."

"Just look at the mess they made of her," whispered appalled women around us. I looked around shyly, not knowing what to do at the time. My hands clenched tightly out of slight fear. "That poor dear…"

I looked up at the business that they had come from. It was a hat shop that was popular in Central Square. They were always current with fashion. I nodded slowly to the man who guided me inside without another notice. He led me to a upstairs room where he left me be, closing the door. Then the sound of the door being locked made me stop and turn. I tried the door but it wouldn't turn. Were they not wanting anyone to come up here and barge in on me? If so, that was very kind of them but they really didn't need to lock me in a room.

"Excuse me? There's no reason to lock me inside." I called from the room to outside. "Would you let me out now? Unlock the door."

The calls fell on silence. I clasped my hands together, wringing them out of fear. I was scared and stuck in a hat shop with two strange men. What was I to do? There were footsteps then approaching from the stairs and the door being unlocked. It opened to one of the painters who held a bottle with some liquid inside it.

"What are you doing?" I asked sternly to him. "Locking me inside this room! How dare you! I'm going home!"

"I'm afraid you won't be doing that," said the blonde haired man with a smirk. "You'll be staying here for the time being. You're kind of cute when you're scared."

"Like a mouse," added the second man in the doorway. "I kind of like it too. The pig tails turn me on a good bit more though."

"It's a shame though," said a third man that appeared behind the second in the doorway. "I come to get my payment and you have a girl with ink splattered clothes ready for me? The hell kind of shit is this?"

The two men spun around. "It's all we got."

The man looked at me annoyed. His deep set alabaster eyes studied me intently before he stepped towards me and grabbed my arm. "Come on. I guess I could use you. I don't know for what but I'll find a use."

I cocked my head slightly wondering what all this was about. "Umm, may I ask what exactly is going on?"

He looked back at me with a straight face. "No. Keep quiet and do as I say."

He took me to the lower floor of the hat shop, put on an admiral coat, hooked my arm through his and off we went out into the Dove Day celebration. Everyone oblivious that a forced kidnapping was occurring right at that moment. A part of me wanted to shout out for help but another part of me said not too. Something about this man was very unsettling. Alabaster eyes, medium length white hair, a mock outfit of an admiral's and being paid for some reason with a female Minecraftian.

What the hell was all of this I wondered to myself, my mind reeling of all the confusion. We passed by all the bakery shops and other places that were popular and came to the steam powered flight planes that the officers were flying with women. I turned to the man and was in shock that his facial features had changed. He gave me a stern look for a brief moment when a cadet looked up to him.

"Admiral Ayala! I see you found…what on earth happened to her?!"

The mock admiral gave me a squeeze on the arm for a second. "A bucket of ink was dropped on this poor girl. I was going to take her back to her home. Maybe dance with her once she became a bit more prettier?"

I looked to the ground embarrassed slightly, my purple dress that I had worn for this occasion had been ruined by a slip up on two kidnappers. The cadet smiled at my shyness. "She's pretty cute. Alright then. I got a fly ready to go. Take it."

The mock admiral smiled and nodded his head to the young cadet. "Come along, my dear. Let's get you home and changed."

I was helped by the mock admiral onto the steam powered plane they called the fly. The mock admiral took the pilot seat and began to hover up in the air before flipping the lever in front and soaring off into the sky.

"Well done," spoke the man, using his regular voice now. "I see you listen well."

"I only did this because I had too. I'm quite scared to be honest and I don't like the situation that I'm being put in," I said sternly looking out over the town. "Where are we going?"

"Taking you back to your home. I can't move any further right now with you," he said tilting the plane and heading in the direction of the armor shop. "It's a bit dangerous to bring you back with me. You need to spend the night at your place. I'll pick you up when I'm ready."

I noticed that he knew where I lived and wondered how. "Who are you?"

"I'm the wizard of the floating mountain. Don't you know that?" he asked looking back at me for a second. "My name is Cruz Dyer. You may have heard of me by the name of the wizard Vito."

"Vito?" I repeated thinking back. "In the royal palace? That wizard Vito?"

"Yes," he replied. "The great wizard Vito works alongside the king."

It seemed that Cruz liked to compliment himself just as much he liked being other people. "So what will the cadet do when he finds out that the admiral never took home the girl?"

"Don't worry about that," Cruz said as the fly set down a few blocks from the armor shop. "Get home and sleep. I'll return to get you."

"Will it be soon?" I asked as the fly went back to hovering in the air.

"Not too soon," he replied and flew off through the air, covering himself in the thick of the white clouds.

I sighed turning away. I know I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about what was going on. It wouldn't make a difference anyways. I opened the shop door and closed it behind me, redoing the lock. "What a day."

"What a mousey woman," said a female.

I whirled around to see a woman in red attire and black as night eyes. An emerald studded necklace around her neck sparkled under the light from a lamp in the corner. "Who are you? How did you get in here?! The armor shop is closed!"

The woman smirked looking me from head to toe before tipping a bottle of black ink on the floor. The ink gurgled and spiraled up into two horses that were dead with wings. I took a step back in fright at the two beasts. "What the hell…?"

As the woman snapped his fingers the two horses cried out making the lights in the shop flicker and go out leaving me in complete darkness. I was knocked back against the door by the two urging horses that passed through me and turned into wisps that swirled back into the bottle, which the woman closed with a cork. I fell to the ground in a daze of mindlessness, my eyes a pastel blue with no pupil. The woman in red passed me by. "Have a good day, dear. Tell Cruz I said hi."

I heard the shop door close with a click as the lock was set by itself and silence took over. My body slumped forward and fell to the ground where I laid there motionless.


	2. Chapter 2 Such a Downside to Things

Ch.2 Such a downside to things

It's amazing how a person can face certain events and be changed for a lifetime from it all. I for one am now facing those changes. Staring into the eyes of Lynette and the other armor shop girls that were standing over me. All with the same expression on their faces: confusion and sympathy. I blinked at them a few times before looking about in a daze. "What's going on?"

I stopped from shock as the voice I used was not my voice. It was raspy and felt like it was coming from my throat or my nose for that matter. "Dear Notch my voice sounds terrible."

"Are you ok, ma'am?" asked the madam who knelt next to me. "How did you get in here?"

"Why is she wearing Margo's dress for?" whispered Tamara next to the madam. "It's completely ruined now, look at all that ink!"

"That was Margo's favorite dress too," whispered Nita on the other side of the madam. "What do you think Margo will say to all this?"

_I'd be upset for sure if a stranger came into my business, wore my clothes, got ink on it, and then was found on the floor,_ I thought to myself and looked about. Everyone thought that I was someone completely different and not Margo. Why though? I got to my feet with a bit of trouble and went over to a full length mirror. I gasped at the reflection of someone that stared back at me.

I was a villager woman with jet black hair, a big nose, beady blue eyes, and a slightly plump body. The madam came over to me with some concern. "Are you ok? Do we need to call someone about you?"

I looked back at her and slowly shook my head. "I'm terribly sorry for intruding like this. I… had a wild day."

"We can tell," Nita said walking over to me and tugged on the purple ink stained dress. "If you don't mind, can you give us this dress back? Our shop owner won't like other people taking her clothes."

I looked down at the dress which I was about to bust out of thanks to my new body that I was in. "I don't have a change of clothes."

The madam took my arm gently and led me to her room. "Come, my dear. I'll fetch you some spare clothes that will fit you."

I allowed her to lead me thinking about what to do when I left from the shop. Where would I go? I sat on the edge of her bed while she rummaged around in her wardrobe for clothes that she hardly wore. I figured she would give me the gaudiest thing to wear that she was given by family. She hated the clothes that her family gave her.

She handed me a plumed hat, an embroidered skirt and a nice V-neck shirt. I looked to her as if she were out of her mind giving some stranger some of her nice clothes.

"What's wrong?" the madam asked me looking perplexed.

I shook my head looking at the clothes. "Thank you very much. I appreciate your generosity."

"You may change here and leave the purple dress on the bed. I'll take it to have it redone some place for our shop owner," the madam said kindly before shutting the door.

I stood there for a moment making sure I wasn't going to be locked in. When I heard her step away into the center of the shop I knew I wasn't going to be in the previous problem. As I changed clothes a thought hit me then. _What am I going to do now after they put me out? How will Cruz find me? He doesn't know who the hell I am now!_ _Wait, maybe this was a good thing though? I could leave home and find me a life someplace else from here._

I guess I'd stick around town for a bit waiting on him but then again I wondered how this spell was to be taken off of me. How long would it be on me before it would wear off itself? Or would it wear off? Nothing really made much sense right there and then but I'd go with the flow until then. I folded my ruined dress neatly on the bed before opening the door and walking out in the rather nice outfit.

"It looks well on you," smiled Nita looking to Tamara. "Doesn't it?"

Nita smiled with a nod of her head. "You look much better than in that ruined dress of Margo's."

"The question still remains. How did you get in the shop though?" the madam asked pursing her lips at me. "That shop was locked up by Margo. Wasn't it?"

I had to think fast then. I shook my head. "It was unlocked. Another woman was in here in a red dress looking around at the armor. She said it was all quite tacky and ugly. I, myself, think it's all well designed and pretty."

"Wasn't Margo here at all?" Lynette asked me from behind the counter as she looked around for anything taken or misplaced. "Everything seems to be untouched, madam."

I shook my head looking confused. "I don't know who this Margo is. I've never seen her. I take it the woman in the red outfit wasn't her then?"

The women shook their heads. "That's most definitely not Margo."

Nita laughed picturing something within her mind. "I can't see her wearing red."

"She's a pastel kind of girl," madam said with a smile. "Very sweet and kind to all."

"She likes cute stuff and nature," Lynette said walking from behind the counter.

"Don't forget she's shy of all kinds of people. Shyer even around guys," Tamara piped up from the display window. "It's a shame she isn't married yet. You think she would have been by now at her age."

I fiddled with the end of the shirt with my plump fingers. "If you don't mind me, I think I'll be going now. It was nice to meet you all and I'm terribly sorry for the intrusion."

The madam showed me to the door with a gentle look. "I hope your age hasn't affected you in these late years of life but I also hope that you will regain your memory of your youthful days too. Take care."

I stared at her with my eyes welling up with tears. "That was very kind of you. Thank you. Take care, madam."

I turned away and walked down the cobble road trying to not cry. I had never seen such a side to the madam before until now. It seemed that the madam favored older women than the younger variety. I headed to the exit of the town where a mass of people were leaving that had come from out of town to attend the Dove Day celebration._ I suppose I have no choice but to find the floating mountain that Cruz lives on._ It was all I could do for the time being anyways.

I wondered just how I'd get on the floating mountain and get Cruz to help me. I stopped at the gates before heading out with a crazy idea. I turned around and walked off back towards the Central Square where Cruz had made a mock cosplay of the admiral. I chuckled to myself at such a play that everyone believed. I was surprised no one really knew the difference but I wouldn't have either if I had been in the cadet's shoes.

As I neared the Central Square I saw the cadet and the actual admiral with other officers in a huddle. The admiral was giving them a harsh berating at their idiotcy on letting a person take off with one of their planes. I stood there looking about and saw the fly planes sitting at the corner of an ally out of sight of the passerby's. I passed through the Central Square and turned down an ally that back tracked around a building. I was now staring right at a fly plane. I knew I'd be on the wanted list if I stole from the army. "The hell with it. I need to get Cruz."

I casually walked from my ally, stepped up on a plane, pressed the pressure plate at my feet and lifted from the ground. Three levers were in front of me on a pedestal and only two fence post gates on either side of me held me in place. I was scared as the plane hovered higher and higher.

"Hey!" shouted one of the officers from below. "Get back down here with that!"

I looked down in startled fear. The other officers sprinted to their own fly. I pushed the middle lever in front of me and was shot forward coming face to face with a tree. I gasped pressing down on the pressure plate and skimmed the top mass of the leaves, not damaging anything and soared off into the sky. I hit something with my toe and noticed two wire hooks for my feet to be placed in.

I put my right foot in the wire hook and left my other foot out to press the plate. The other officers were gaining behind me, weapons in their hands to shoot me down. My jet black hair whipping behind me wildly made it hard to see where the others were but I decided to give them a chase they wouldn't forget. I checked on either side of me before I hit the right lever down and spiraled off to the right, my left foot pressing the pressure plate and hovering further upwards. I needed to get into the clouds and the officers saw that plan too.

I flipped the lever back up and found myself upside down. _Damn it all! What a way to scare myself to death!_

Objects whizzed past the top of my head as the plane began to drop lower in the sky. I flipped the lever again to right myself before pressing the plate below and hovering up again. The officers behind me were being led by the admiral who was taking this chase as a cautionary one. He didn't want harm to come to me or the plane.

"Ma'am!" the admiral shouted. "Take the plane down and we'll take you into custody gently! You will be serving six years!"

I shook my head, my nose wiggling in the air. "I can't do that admiral! I'm after something!"

The admiral began to fly towards me slowly. I knew he was going to try to take over my plane. I pressed the plate and flipped the lever on the left to fly diagonally out of his reach before soaring off to the left and zipping back to the right. I kept my foot on the plate, going higher and higher, almost reaching the clouds.

"Throw the harming!" shouted the admiral.

I looked back to see the officers holding potions of harming in their hands as they flew towards me gaining up to me. I ducked down flipping the two levers on either side of me and dropped into a dive that shook the officers off. I spiraled towards the ground, my nose pressed against my face from the g-force. I pulled up halfway and soared off through the trees below, disappearing from view. I don't know what made me do it but it got me a pretty good length away from the officers and the admiral who cursed and ranted to high heaven.

I was enveloped by a great white cloud before I knew what had happened. It was like the cloud had a belly on it; I kept soaring through the great hulking mass before I exited the other side and found myself in the land of clouds. In the midst of that land was the floating mountain that floated there with a picture of serenity about it. Just seeing the land mass so closely like I was took my breath away and my body chilled over with excitement. I had finally found wizard Cruz and his flying mountain home but it had been one hell of a ways away that's for sure.

"This is quite beautiful up close and far away," I muttered to myself as I flew around the great mountain and its land mass. "Wouldn't this place be called something different instead of the flying mountain? It needs a better name to me."

As I encircled the great mountain I suddenly saw a house of some sort sitting on a hill at the base of the mountain with a few sparse trees that grew around it and a picket fence that enclosed a yard. It was adorable. I flipped the middle lever back and the left lever down to descend to the left and dropped into the fenced in yard where I landed the fly. I sighed leaning on the steering pedestal as everything that I had just gone through was now hitting me. I looked up at the house and wondered why it was so small.

I had imagined a great and glorious place built on such a big piece of flying land. It was a small stone, half circled hut that had a chimney which billowed out so much smoke that I would've thought it belonged to an oil refinery. Its window shutters were falling off and the cobble path was deteriorating. I soon saw the stone was greatly cracked and pitted from weather and age. It truly needed a fix up at some point in time.

"I finally find the place it's almost falling in. Good lord. You'd think wizards would take care of their things a bit better?" I muttered to myself as I walked towards the wooden door. "It's no wonder that the King hasn't truly taken this place from him yet."

I knocked on the door but no one answered my knocks. I tried the door knob to find it unlocked. Pushing the door open I found myself staring into a dark, cramped, and quite messy adobe house that had a brick wall which the chimney came from but no fire. It seemed that this was just the beginning of the house since there was a spiral staircase that wound down into the flying mountain itself. "Hello? Anyone home? Cruz?"

No one returned my calls. I shut the door behind me and stepped across the broken wooden board of the floor to head down the stairs of the upper adobe house study room it seemed to be. Books and all sorts of papers jutted out of the bookcases that spiraled along with the staircase. Spider webs and dusty cobwebs that hung down along the banister rings and above me. I coughed and sneezed from all the dust and almost lost my footing when I about went through a rotten stair.

With all the dangers and grime that this place held I figured it would need a great cleaning in the inside and the out. The house looked like it was suffocating to me. I reached the second story within the flying mountain and found it to be the living room, kitchen, and a nice sitting area that looked out on a garden and a bay. I smiled at the view and stopped then. A bay and a garden?

I tried to push open the window of the house but found it to be stuck and found another door along the other side of the fireplace. Opening it I realized that I was in the streets of the royal city. Steam powered carts and cars ambled past with their hissing and thunking. I gawked at the sights around me and saw that a kid was watching me while eating some bread. I slowly stepped back into the house and shut the door, pulling the moth eaten curtains over the windows.

I leaned my back on the door not understanding what had just taken place. How could the upstairs be in the sky and the downstairs be in the royal city without moving? This truly was a wizard's house. I groaned sitting at the dusty kitchen table that was piled high with more books and papers that were askew in almost every page of any book. I looked around the dingy room and saw that there was furniture in the sitting room that was moth eaten to bits.

"This is such a shit hole. What in hell is living here? Truly not wizard Cruz?" I talked to myself looking at all the dust and clutter about me with disdain.

_"You're one to talk,"_ hissed a voice from some place that made me jump out of my skin. _"You have quite the spell and you still talk shit."_

I looked about for the voice but didn't see a person or anything. "Where are you? Who are you? What are you?"

The hissing laughter slithered in and out of the air. There was a crackle from the fire that made me look to it and saw a Blaze sitting there burning a few logs with the most amused expression across its face. I gasped as it blinked at me and smiled in my direction. _"I see you found me. How did you get here?"_

I sat there too shocked to reply. "You're talking to me…? Me? I'm hearing you talk. This isn't normal." I rubbed my head with my fingers trying to make sense of all of this. "I don't understand anything that's going on ever since Dove Day."

The Blaze hovered in its fire pit before sinking into its grate again and only letting its face poke above the burning coals that hadn't fallen through the grate. _"Today is Dove Day. It's over actually, just finished a bit ago. Have you lost your memory?"_

I shook my head at him. "I've been in some terrible mix- up. Now I'm so much deeper than I wanted to be and I don't know how to get myself out. I was going to come here and try to explain it to Cruz but now that the witch –"

_"The witch?!"_ hissed the Blaze rising from the fire pit fully and sparking brightly. _"Are you working for the witch?!"_

"No!" I barked at the Blaze getting to my feet angrily. "I could kill her for what she's done to me! Do you honestly think that I'd be working for her if she's put a damn spell on me?!"

The blaze died down slightly but still provided more light than he was a moment ago. _"You'd be surprised. She has followers. I'm very cautionary when it comes to her. There's more than just her though too. They all seem to want to get rid of Cruz."_

I walked towards the Blaze wondering what he was talking about. "Cruz doesn't have any witch or wizard friends?"

_"Wizards keep to themselves. None can trust each other, you know?"_ hissed the Blaze that hovered midways in the grate. _"I don't think you know a thing about witches and wizards so I'll tell you from your blank and confused expression."_

I nodded pulling over the kitchen table chair and sitting in front of the fire to listen to him.

_"It had all started back when Cruz had become a wizard, training under the high wizard of the King. The high wizard had high expectations for Cruz and he had met them all in flying colors. The witch, however, became noteworthy of causing havoc and trouble for the King around this time. The high wizard was sent out by the King to deal with her. Trouble and trouble don't mix well._

_"You can guess what happened to him?"_ the Blaze hissed softly settling halfway through the grate as I placed another log on the fire for him.

"He was killed?" I asked solemnly. "By his own kind?"

The Blaze nodded. _"It doesn't matter if you're a witch or a wizard or whatever. It's a dog eat dog world for them out there, same for your kind too."_

"So the high wizard died. What happened next?" I asked leaning forward slightly.

_"The King appointed Cruz to be the next high wizard but Cruz was still lacking in a few things that the high wizard hadn't taught him. Cruz took the job anyways until the witch ruined that for him. He's just a lowly wizard to the King now thanks to the witch for framing him."_ The Blaze crackled and popped as he worked on the wood that I had placed in the fire pit. _"He's quite unhappy but he has his own issues too. He put himself under his own spell from being framed. It affected him that much."_

"He casted a spell on himself? What kind of spell?" I asked feeling the large nose that was on my new face. "Is it anything like mine?"

The Blaze chuckled. _"No. That spell is just silly. I don't know why the witch casted that on you for. To be honest you look a bit ugly."_

I frowned. "It's ok. I was never really pretty to begin with. This suits me just fine anyways."

The Blaze crackled and flared a little before dying down. _"Tell you what. I'll get Cruz to help you if you help him in return. You'll both be helping each other on the spells."_

"Well I can't leave Cruz anyways since I was sold to him today." I said as I thought back to the kidnapping. "I'm pretty much stuck with him until he says I can leave."

The Blaze rose a bit from sitting on the burning log. _"You were sold to Cruz?! The only times when Cruz gets payments is when he has use for them in a sacrifice!"_

I stared at the Blaze for a moment not believing what he just said. "Sacrifice? Me?"

_"There must've been some mistake on the kidnapper's part! They only get girls with ink…hair…" _the Blaze stopped talking then and crept into his grate where he smoldered.

I felt my mouth drop and my hand grab my hair. "Oh no… Oh no! This…It was all a set up! Hey! I don't have ink hair! I'm being framed! I have fire red hair! Hey!"

The Blaze puffed smoke from the grate. _"If you're telling the truth then the ink in your hair will come out in time. You just need the time though."_

"Help me!" I pleaded into the grate. "We have to stop him from using me as a sacrifice! Anything! Please?!"

The Blaze rose up to the grate slowly. He peered at me through his swirling flames. _"I'll get you as much time as you need. Hopefully that ink will wash out soon. In the mean time you will assist Cruz at all costs. Not being a sacrifice of course. Deal?"_

I nodded. "Deal."

_"No, that's not how you make a deal. Offer your blood."_ The Blaze ordered as he rose from the grate to sit upon the log he began to burn again.

I took up a knife that was used to open letters and made a slight cut. I held out my hand and pressed drops of blood out into the blaze's open mouth. He flared up and wavered slightly, puffing smoke from his mouth before dying down again. _"Done. We've not made a contract. If broken I get to kill you or Cruz uses you as his sacrifice. Either way, you're now stuck here for good."_

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. How my life turned into one hell of an adventure from a boring one I can never really explain but I believe from today that it was a well done misunderstanding which I will hopefully be able to tell Cruz one day. I just hope that Cruz will recognize me or remember me in the slightest when he returns from wherever he is at.

"By the way," I said clearing my throat. "What's your name? I'm Margo."

The Blaze rose up in fire and flame. _"I'm the great Blaze Modesto!"_

"Modesto," I repeated with a smile. "Nice to friend a monster from the Nether. I didn't think it was possible to do so?"

_"It's not but I was an exception."_ Modesto simmered settling on the log. _"Cruz should be back at any moment though. What do you plan on doing while you wait?"_

I settled in the wooden chair a bit more comfortably. I wasn't used to not having anything to do. I was always working on armor or something else at the shop. "Well, since I've had quite an adventurous day I think I'll nap for a bit."

The Blaze watched me settle into slumber as quick as I had said the words. He hissed and spit in the fire, burning the log beneath him before settling too. _"This outta be an interesting turn around on the mountain if I do say so myself. Hope you have enough luck to stay around, Margo?"_


	3. Chapter 3 In Which Things go Bump

Ch.3 In Which Things go Bump in the Night

I was sleeping comfortably in the chair next to the fireplace keeping myself nice and cozy when there came a thump that stirred Modesto from his smoldering slumber. He raised his head over the grate sleepily to see what was going on when the thump came again but louder overhead. He rose from the grate out of curiosity at the sound staring up at the ceiling where the top of the mountain would be out in the air. _"What in hell…?"_

The third thump sounded like a great crash and shook the whole mountain to bits waking me up. I rolled from the chair and crashed to the floor in a daze. "What…? Who…? What's going on?"

The Blaze recoiled into his pit and looked to me with little concern. _"Something's going on upstairs! Go check it out!"_

I yawned getting to my feet sleepily. "Why me? Don't you have something to go check that out?"

_"If I did I would've already used it,"_ hissed the Blaze who curled up with his log._ "Go on, Margo. Check it out. I'm confined here."_

I sighed stomping up the stairs but remembered that some of the stairs were rotten and began to tread more lightly. Arriving at the top of the stairs in the quaint study I found the door knocked to bits by the fly which had been used by a few zombies that had spawned out in the yard. I screamed turning around and high tailing it downstairs as they growled and moaned, stumbling after me.

"Modesto!" I screamed almost stumbling down the stairs. "Zombies! Modesto!"

_"Margo!"_ hissed Modesto from below. _"Grab the sword!"_

As I entered the living area below I saw the sword on a table and grabbed it up with shaky fingers. I looked at it wondering what I was to do with it. I turned to Modesto with confusion. "I don't know how to fight!"

Modesto flared up in alarm at the zombies as they came stumbling down the stairs after me groaning and growling. _"Swing at them! Swing!"_

I grasped the handle with both hands and swung the great silver sword with all I had and sliced a zombie in half. Before its body could hit the floor it poofed into thin air. I swung back to the left and sliced the next zombie, making it poof along with the first. I kept swinging getting more pumped up as each zombie fell to the sword until there was none left and flesh was lying about on the floor in front of me with a great rotting stench. I panted resting the blade of the sword on the stone floor that was cracked or growing mold.

"You did well, Margo!" exclaimed Modesto from the fire pit. "Very well! I think you know how to fight now."

There was a change in light next to the fireplace as the door opened from a dark place, letting in a man with alabaster eyes, white hair, and dressed in dark clothes. He stopped at the sight of me as the door shut behind him and the scene in the door's window went back to the royal palace streets. I stood there staring at him with the sword still in my hands as it rested on the floor. He removed his black helmet and set it on the kitchen table while going to the fire place.

"Who do we have here today, Modesto? A witch?"

Modesto crackled in the fire pit as he settled on the log. "No. She's not the witch nor works for her as she states. Her name is Margo. She's come to help you."

"Oh, has she now?" Cruz said turning to look at her over his shoulder. "I could use some help right about now. What are you good at, Margo?"

I blinked and realized he was speaking to me. "Oh! Um, armor! Apparently fighting zombies also."

He walked from the fire place to take the sword from my grasp and set it back on the wall mountings. "Zombies bust down the door upstairs again?"

"Yes," I said shyly looking to the floor. "I haven't had time to go see the extent of damage but the sound startled Modesto from his sleep."

Cruz took the stairs two at a time as I scrambled after him and stood at the top slightly panting while he picked up pieces of the shattered door. He stopped when he noticed the fly laying on the ground outside. "Did you use this to get here?"

I nodded. "Yes. I didn't know how else to get here so I stole it from the officers. They gave me quite the chase but I lost them when I went through some woods and out the other side. By then I was already into the clouds and lost them further. Before I knew it I popped out on the other side and found myself here."

Cruz inspected the fly before turning to me. "Are you sure you're not a witch?"

I clenched my fists at the question. "If I ever was one I certainly wouldn't put stupid spells on people like she does!"

Cruz looked rather surprised at my outburst and gave a slight chuckle. "Excuse me then." He turned back to the fly with some hidden agenda that I noticed. "Where did you say you found this?"

I walked over to the fly looking at it. "It was sitting along with the other fly's. Is this one different?" I touched it on the front of its pedestal with my fingers and it rippled making me leap back.

Cruz stepped in front of me to block me from the danger. I peered around him to watch the fly turn into an iron golem that stood three heads taller than us. I stood there speechless at it and slowly looked him up and down. Cruz moved the door shards to his side as he put his left hand on his hip looking up at the golem.

"Such strange things are happening ever since the disturbance in the other town. I guess you were one of the witch's tests?"

The golem made a grating sound as if he were talking and turned to me. I hid behind Cruz slightly scared. I had never seen such a beast before and wasn't sure if it was nice or not. Cruz stepped away from me leaving me to face the golem. I looked up at it to see it turn around, take a flower from the ground and offer it to me. I looked to the flower, to the golem, and then to Cruz who shrugged.

"Golems are pretty docile and are rarely ever nasty. It's a sign of friendship."

I hesitantly took the flower from him and nodded. "Thank you."

The golem did his grating sound again before turning away and wandering around the yard as if on patrol. Cruz looked to me with a perplexed face. "How did you know where my house was?"

I twirled the flower in my fingers as I looked up at him. "You told me as you took me home. You were a mock admiral. The admiral bitched out the other officers for believing in the fake by the way. They actually tried to harm me while I was trying to get away from them."

It then hit Cruz who I was when I saw his face change. "Margo! You're the one from the armor shop that everyone is looking for?! I thought you were the other sister?!"

I glared at him when he brought up my sister. "You were going to sacrifice my sister?!"

"Sacrifice? You know about that?" he asked leaning forward slightly. "How?"

"It doesn't matter how I know about that, how dare you sacrifice innocent women!" I bark angrily at him making the iron golem turn and stare at us. "Do you know the broken families and people that are affected by the missing women?!"

Cruz snorted walking back towards the house. He was upset that the fools in the town had made a blunder. He stopped as he stepped through the doorway and turned back to me. "How did you turn to that? You didn't have black hair and you weren't plump."

"The witch did this to me! I thought I made that clear a moment ago?!" I snapped putting my hands on my hips.

He stared at me and rubbed his temple with his fingers. "I'm quite tired. I apologize. You aren't the one that I wanted and now I come to find out that it's your sister. Shit. Forget I ever said anything."

"Hell no!" I said lashing out angrily and stomping after him as we descended into the lower part of the house. "I want to know what in hell you were going to sacrifice my sister for!"

"It's not important. I'll find someone else," he replied tiredly. "As for the spell you'll have to break it on your own because I don't have a clue how."

I stopped on the last step as he dumped the splintered pieces of door in the fireplace where Modesto began to burn them with eagerness. "You don't know how to break me of my spell? Am I seriously hearing you correctly?"

Cruz collapsed into the chair that I had been sitting in. "Yeah. You heard me correctly. The witch has done a spell that I don't know. I'll help you get rid of it once I research a bit."

I stepped off the last step and walked over to him slowly. "How long will that take? I mean, I was sold to you as payment. Now I'm not what you wanted and you fucking knew that it was ink the entire damn time!"

_"She's got brilliant points,"_ crackled Modesto which Cruz kicked a log at and knocked back down into the grate.

"Shut up!" Cruz snapped and looked to me with a glare. "I got fucked over and you were dragged in it too and what's worse is that the witch was following me and cornered you! Do you honestly think that I'm enjoying any of this?!"

I hadn't thought about it that way nor thought how he'd see it. I was just focused on myself and all that I wanted. "So, you aren't going to sacrifice me or my sister?"

"No," he said flatly leaning forward towards the fire where Modesto burned the log while peeping out at him from the grate. "Stop asking me about that. It's none of your business anyways. I'm pissed that Modesto told you about it!"

Modesto ducked back into the grate and smoked in the fire place. _"I'm sorry. I thought she knew…"_

Cruz sighed through his nose before getting to his feet. "I'm going to get some sleep. Before that though I'll repair the door. As for you, Margo, I'll show you to your room once I'm done."

I stepped to the side as he walked briskly up the rotting stiars where I could here him fixing the door with magic. He returned in a moment and walked off to the livingroom where a hallway had been hidden behind a curtain that was dusty and moth eaten. Walking down the hall was a flight of stairs that led up into a wood and stone stairway before it leveled off into six rooms. He opened the last door to the right at the top of the stairs.

"This will be your room. The end room on the left is mine. There are two bathrooms. One next to mine and one next to yours." With that he turned and shut himself away in his room leaving me to stand in the doorway of my own.

I looked in on the dusty room grimacing at it. "I'm not about to sleep here until it's been cleaned." I shut the door and head back downstairs where I sit back in the chair and stare at Modesto smoldering in the grate.

_"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you some things."_

"Don't worry about it. Everything will be ok now maybe. In the morning I'll start cleaning this place a bit." Before I could finish off another sentence I was asleep in the chair once again.


	4. Chapter 4 Some Things are Disheveled

Ch.4 Some Things are Disheveled.

The sound of boots stomping about awoke me from my sleep. I moved and felt my neck pop loudly from sleeping wrong in the chair in front of Modesto. I groaned rubbing my neck to turn around fully. Cruz was pacing from the living room to the kitchen with a serious look on his face dressed head to toe in some odd clothes.

"What the hell is going on so early…?" I mumbled yawning and tossing a log onto Modesto to burn. "What are you wearing?"

Cruz seemed to not hear me or was ignoring me. He paced continuously from room to room, his boots scuffing the floor every so often until I couldn't take it anymore and slammed a pan down on the table, making a huge clatter that made him jump out of his skin. He whirled on me but I held up the pan between us.

"What was that for?!" he snapped angrily at me. "You could've given me a heart attack!"

"Like you haven't already done the same to me, murderer!" I snapped back making him recoil slightly. "What the hell is all this? Why are you making such a commotion so early?"

Cruz took the pan from me and moved to the kitchen, grabbing food for breakfast to be made. "I tried to wake you so many times to ask you things and you never responded. You slept so heavily I thought you were under a sleeping spell but then I thought more on the subject and knew that no one had done such while you being here. I would've known."

I stared at him as he rambled off on one hell of a recollection of all his thoughts while I had been sleeping. So much in fact that I didn't think a person was capable of thinking too much and found myself corrected. "Cruz…"

"So I thought that you might be in one of those sleep paralysis. I was going to call the doctor but thought better to take you to the royal city but then I thought that would look odd for me to do so…"

"Cruz!" I barked making him whirl on me again. I stared at him as he stared back. "I'm fine. You worry too much, you know that? I was truly exhausted from yesterday and last night. Forgive me for not waking sooner."

He turned back to cooking with the stove and cursed as the stove began to not cooperate with him. "It's fine. Apology accept. I was out of terms myself with my thoughts. I should be apologizing. Damn you! Work!"

Cruz gave the furnace a good kick and it sputtered smoke, spitting out the pork and eggs which he caught with the plate once again. I blinked at him and the furnace and couldn't help but to laugh. I took the plate from him and took up an iron skillet which I placed over the grate.

"Modesto, well done pork and some sunny side eggs, please?" I asked nicely feeding him some logs which he blazed up to devour.

"Will I get the left overs?" he hissed below the grate as he cooked the sizzling pork in the skillet.

I turned to Cruz who shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. Don't burn anything though or you won't get any."

Modesto grinned through the grate up at me with a plan of his own. "Maybe I will…"

I gave Modesto the fiercest glare. "I'm starving and you want to burn everything! How rude!"

Modesto sticks out his tongue but concentrated on cooking. As I moved the pork around in the skillet I looked back at Cruz who sat at the kitchen table going through a book. "You have work today?"

"Yes, everyday all day. I do spells and odd jobs for people under different alias's." He muttered going through the book. "Why so interested all of a sudden?"

"I need to know if I'm to be staying here. I'm going to be cleaning today. Wasn't sure if you'd be in the way or not. This place looks like its suffocating!" I shuffled the cooked food onto two plates and gave one to Cruz and set the other at my place. "When will you be back?"

"Late," he replied taking up a fork and starting to eat without a blessing.

"That makes no sense. If you work until morning to late at night. How do you get enough sleep?" I asked over a mouthful of eggs. "You came in late last night now that I recall and it was pitch black. Where were you?"

Cruz looked to me with a stony face. "None of your business. Clean the house while I'm away but don't go into my rooms. Meaning my room or the bathroom or the study. Understood?"

As if I wasn't going to go into those rooms. I was most certainly going to go there. "Understood."

Before I had finished my pork and eggs Cruz had gobbled his up so fast and was raking the left overs into Modesto's mouth. He set the plate in the sink and flipped the left lever up that was on the side of the door that I hadn't noticed before. The sight outside the door changed and he was out the door and gone. I picked at the food on my plate before turning to Modesto who was leaping on the logs in the fire place.

"How many names does Cruz go under?"

Modesto paused to think. _"Many. He has to so people don't suspect anything."_

"Ah, the witch and wizards?" I asked starting to eat once more.

_"Yes,"_ Modesto hissed settling on the logs. _"It's quite troublesome really."_

I thought back to my sister who would've been in my place if it hadn't been for the mix up. "Yes. I guess it could be quite troublesome indeed."

_"He always has to stay one step ahead of everyone and it's wearing greatly on him."_ Crackled Modesto in the fire. _"He's become slightly weaker from the cut in his sleep schedule."_

"What can I do then?" I said looking towards Modesto.

Modesto raised his head slightly. _"You really want to help him?"_

I nodded. "I was sold to him and I made the contract with you. I'm going to help him out."

Modesto puffed a cloud of smoke. _"I thought you would've forgotten about that. Well, if you want to help then are you saying that you'll accept magic and all its properties?"_

"I will. Now what can I do?" I asked getting to my feet and walking towards Modesto with my scraps.

_"You can start by cleaning. You did say you would do that,"_ Modesto said before he devoured the scraps on my plate. _"I actually like a clean place. It's nice."_

I placed the plate in the sink and put on a moth eaten apron. "Very well then. I'll clean this place spotless."

I began to scrub the dishes and the silverware that I found in the dusty cobwebbed drawers. Shoeing away infestations of spiders and smacking away at the cobwebs. I had the place clouded with dust in no time and had to open the door to the royal palace streets where I began to pile books and such outside to air. The people passed by watching me with interest as I moved more and more things outside. I grabbed the moth eaten rugs and tapestries and drug them upstairs through the study where I had the iron golem hold a rope while I tied the other end to the chimney, a ladder being on the side to get to it easily.

I had the tapestries and rugs hanging there while I beat the life out of them, making the dust get blown away by the wind. They were already starting to come back to life, their dingy colors turning brighter. All that was left to do was get them repaired or patched. I had them air for a bit while I went back inside and dusted the study, wiping down the dust, fixing the papers, reshelving the books, and washing the floor. As I wiped my brow of the sweat I sat outside watching the sky and the clouds drift by, illuminated by the sun above and making them whiter.

It was a beautiful sight to behold. I didn't have time to waste though and got back to cleaning, doing the living area downstairs, mopping and dusting more before heading upstairs and cleaning the rooms. As dusk was beginning to fall I decided to do some shopping and made a list of things. I turned to Modesto who was in his grate smoldering from the dust and beat on the fire pit with a log to rouse him.

"Modesto! Where can I get some things to restock the fridge and pantry? Cruz is out of everything!"

Modesto flickered up to the grate to peer up at me. _"The sea side village is nice. Flip the left lever down."_

I went to the door and flipped the left lever down where the scenery outside changed. I opened the door and was hit with a blast of sea air and the sounds of birds. "This is so amazing… How does one do this?"

_"We will be changing it up soon. Don't get used to it,"_ hissed Modesto. _"Get on your way before it turns dark, Margo. Cruz will be expecting supper."_

I shut the door behind me and wandered the wharf buying things from the villagers and sight seeing along the coast line as the sun dipped down in the horizon. When I returned it was just turning night. I took up the cleaned skillet and pot, buttering the things and dropping in diced potatoes, browing them before placing them on a plate and putting them on the counter for later. I took up the filets of fish and began to cook them over the furnace that didn't give me a bit of trouble until I started to make tea. It didn't like that one bit. I gave it a soft kick on its side.

"Don't you dare start with me, furnace! Shape up and cook!"

It spit and sputtered at me but reluctantly did as it was told. Modesto sat on his log watching me as I took control of the kitchen utensils and devices. They never did such things before. Only for Cruz did they listen but the furnace was a hard headed piece of cookware from the beginning. It wouldn't listen to anyone. It seemed to work for Margo though. The door opened making Margo turn to see Cruz entering and standing there looking dumbfounded as his eyes swept the house.

_"Welcome back home, Cruz,"_ Modesto hissed from the fireplace. _"Do you like it? She's worked all day and barely took any breaks."_

Cruz shut the door behind him without a word as he inspected the kitchen, the fire place, the living room, the study, and then the bedrooms. He returned in surprise to find that he had missed her making dinner. "You're really full of surprises. Here I thought you couldn't cook."

"Or clean house." I said hinting that I was watching his facial expressions. "You're like a fucking hoarder."

"Am I now?" Cruz replied looking at the polished silverware and stocked pantry. "I know. I have too much stuff in small places. You seemed to have found room for it all though."

"Just barely," I said handing him his plate. "Hope you like fish, potatoes and hot tea."

"Sounds better than just pork and eggs." He smiled taking the plate and sitting down at the table. "did Modesto simmer the tea for you?"

_"No,"_ flared Modesto from the fire pit_. "It was the furnace. She made it work!"_

Cruz raised his brows at me. I didn't see what was so special. "I can never make that damn thing do shit for me. How did you make it work?"

"I gave it a gentle kick in the side like you do," I replied biting into the fish filet. "Doesn't it work when you do that?"

"Hell no!" Cruz sputtered as he paused over his food. "That's one hell of an accomplishment to be honest. It never wants to listen to anyone! It just sits there and gathers dust."

I looked to the furnace behind me as it just sat there cooling off from all the cooking. I looked back at Cruz and shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. It did just fine for me and it never gave me a bit of trouble."

Cruz leaned over in his chair to look over my shoulder at the furnace and narrowed his eyes at it. "The hell…? Why can't you do that for me, huh?"

I giggled over my fish waving my fork at him. "Stop that and eat. The furnace and you can have your battles another day. It worked hard for me and I'm rewarding it by complimenting its fine cooking skills."

Cruz sliced up his fish and began eating. "If you flatter it too much it'll stop all together."

Modesto giggled and snorted smoke in the chimney as I smiled at the joke. "We'll see, won't we furnace?"

The furnace never replied and just sat there in silence. As the dinner wrapped up and Cruz went off to get a shower I cleaned the kitchen up from dinner. As I was putting away the dishes the whole house was filled with a woman's scream and a pounding of feet as someone sprinted through the house and down the steps. "Margo! You've done it now, Margo!"

I turned to see Cruz storming over to me in his pajama bottoms and an odd plant sprouting from his hair. "What in blazes happened to you? Why are you doing gardening in your hair?"

"You fucked everything up!" he shouted in my face pointing to the sprout that was growing steadily. "How did you get gardening mix in the bathroom?!"

I hid my face behind a plate as it suddenly occurred to me that I had left it on a shelf in the bathroom while cleaning. "I forgot I placed it there and never went back to get it. It doesn't look bad. It's actually growing berries. You should see it."

Modesto peered over the log that was resting on his grate seeing the plant grow through his hair. _"It's a potato!"_

He glared over to Modesto and held up his hand to do a spell but I grabbed it and held it down. "Stop that! Right this instant! You are not going to hurt Modesto for just voicing such a thing! Now, go get something to kill that plant in your hair or wait it out! I don't care which but you will not give me any trouble after I've just spent all day cleaning up your damn mess! Get along now!"

Cruz looked to me as if he hadn't been scolded in a long time. "You…You did this..!"

"And I apologize but there's no reason to put up such a fit and snap at others except for me!" I snapped shoving his arm away from my grasp. "Get upstairs and fix your hair! Go to bed!"

I turned around and gave him my back as I finished up in the kitchen. He clenched his fists angrily and stormed up to his bathroom not being able to argue with me any further. "Damn you, damn you, damn you!"

I heard his bathroom door slam leaving me and Modesto in peace and quiet again. I sighed turning to the Blaze. "What spell did he place upon himself again?"

The Blaze crept into the grate and smoldered smoke, not saying a word.


End file.
